Medical experts deliver “damning verdicts” on state of NHS

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today urged the Health Secretary to listen to medical experts, following what he referred to as “damning verdicts” on the state of the NHS made by a BMA chief and the vice president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.

BMA chief, Dr Alan Robertson, said that, “we do not have enough doctors in Scotland to effectively staff our NHS and deliver all that is being asked of us,” indicating that “there is nothing left to give.”  

Speaking to MSPs this morning at the Scottish Parliament’s Health Committee, Scottish vice president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, John-Paul Loughrey, warned that “we haven’t really seen any abatement in the pressure on emergency departments,” and that there could again be an “increased risk of death” for patients this winter.  

Mr Cole-Hamilton said: 

“If the Health Secretary will not listen to opposition politicians, he should at least listen to the medical experts delivering damning verdicts on the state of our NHS.  

“It is now more than two years since the SNP/Green Government announced their NHS Recovery Plan but the situation for staff and patients has gone backwards on almost every measure.  

“Alongside a huge workforce recruitment campaign, Scottish Liberal Democrats would deliver a strategy to combat burnout among staff and champion their expertise to lead us out of the crisis.”